Pupil perspectives on gender and learning in Year 5: a study of
pupils’ collaborative talk in pairs.
Chris Hussey
(General Primary PGCE), 2011-2012
email: csmh2@cam.ac.uk / csmh21@gmail.com
Abstract
This study examines pupils’ perspectives on gender and learning through an in-depth analysis of their collaborative talk in pairs. With gender and talk so prevalent in educational discourse, as combined and discrete topics, the following paper analyses both these social factors to determine the extent to which children are aware of them, and their subsequent implications. A critical review of the breadth of literature on the topic contextualises the study of a Year 5 Class in a Primary school in Cambridge, whose perspectives are the focus of this small-scale study. Through questionnaires and interviews, it reveals that children recognise the value of talk and collaboration as beneficial to their learning, but overwhelmingly prefer working with a partner of the same sex. This is despite acknowledging that they may work better with a partner of the opposite sex. The study considers the various reasons for this, the ways in which this may be addressed and implications for implementation in the classroom.
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The full paper is available for download as a pdf file : 071-122-husseyc
Citation: Hussey, Chris. (2012) 'Pupil perspectives on gender and learning in Year 5: a study of
pupils’ collaborative talk in pairs.' Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research, Volume 4 pp.71- 122(Downloaded from http://jotter.educ.cam.ac.uk/, [date of access])